![After some entertaining matches in 2022, Dubbo Rhinos and Narromine Gorillas will meet in round one this season. Picture by Amy McIntyre After some entertaining matches in 2022, Dubbo Rhinos and Narromine Gorillas will meet in round one this season. Picture by Amy McIntyre](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/118079462/f1845281-0bac-4f5b-a9d2-48e60ee5a78d.JPG/r0_422_8256_5082_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Dubbo Rhinos and Narromine Gorillas will get a huge chance to renew their rivalry when the two sides meet in the opening round of the 2023 New Holland Cup.
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Central West Rugby Union revealed the draw for the two-grade competition on Monday, with the Rhinos to be on the road in round one, playing at Narromine's Cale Oval on April 15.
But for Doug Sandry's men, the draw has been kind to them as they will enjoy back-to-back home games in rounds two and three.
With pre-season in full swing and trial matches not too far away, Sandry knows his group has started to focus on round one already.
"To be honest, all five teams in this competition are capable of winning a match on any given day," he said.
"That's the great thing about the New Holland Cup, there are no easy matches. There's no 'you are expected to win this', it will be tough going to Narromine first up.
"They will be primed, their new grandstand will probably be finished so they will be ready to go. So it is a tough start but then we get a few games at home after that.
"It could be worse, we could have the big road trips but we aren't going complain. The draw is the draw and Central West Rugby Union has done a wonderful job as always."
The Rhinos and Narromine played one of the more bizarre matches from the 2022 season after several players received cards for infringements.
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While Dubbo may have won all their games against Narromine, Sandry knows the Gorillas will be pumped to run back out on Cale Oval.
"Especially out in Narromine, it was a belter of a match, it has been well remembered because of the number of cards that were given," he said.
"We managed to win that one but we played them leading into the finals and they really came at us hard early, we are going to have to work hard to be prepared but like I said there are no easy matches."
Little more than two months are left until round one kicks off, and the Rhinos will hit the road on up to three occasions for trial fixtures.
"We are off to the Cowra 10s, we've got a trial at Forster then we will head to Borrowa for some rugby there," Sandry said.
"We are pretty happy with how we are situated when it comes to trials, obviously we will wait and see how we go but we are looking forward to another positive season."
The returning coach mentioned a few new faces had made themselves known over the summer but admitted a pair of young stars will not be wearing black and gold in 2023.
"We haven't had many signings but we've had a couple of big losses, but they are good ones," he said.
"Lachie O'Malley and Nick Barton have both gone down to Canberra to play for Gungahlin, they'll both be in the Brumbies Colts system which is a great rap for both of those players.
"They both played for NSW Country last year and to see them advance their rugby careers is what we as a club would love all our juniors to do."
Finals for the New Holland Cup will begin in early August.
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